The disclosure relates generally to coatings and more specifically to ceramic layer-by-layer coatings.
Conventional processing of ceramics can be difficult, particularly when seeking to conformally coat fibers. Layer-by-layer fabrication of ceramic coatings has been shown to produce structures with desired features such as enhanced durability and toughness. However, the water-soluble polymers and clays used in current processes remain relatively slow and difficult to manage, while the resulting coatings are not uniform and not appropriate for certain hostile application environments.
Since certain polymers cannot infiltrate between the individual clay particles, the clay, absent some other inducement, will form large and amorphous clumps which are locally weakened at the interfaces between certain polymers and the clay particles. In addition, processes and raw materials of this type do not readily self-assemble into an ordered structure about the substrate.